


deja vu

by llwydion



Category: 07-Ghost
Genre: Gen, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2018-12-03 16:53:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 2,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11536416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/llwydion/pseuds/llwydion
Summary: His first memory – or is it his last – is of warmth and an endless blue sky.





	1. prologue - a moment of rest upon the wind

**Author's Note:**

> working title was "what happens after"  
> Finally complete! :)

His first memory – or is it his last – is of warmth and an endless blue sky.

There's a man with short, ash-blond hair wearing a long, white robe standing about ten feet away from him, smiling at him. It’s a jarring look; normally that face is twisted into a scowl.

How did he know that?

Then the man speaks.

“What is your wish, dear soul who has traveled so far to come to the Land of Seele?”

He looks around.

The ground he’s standing on is made of some reflective material that perfectly mirrors the blue sky above him, down to the little wisps of clouds far above his head.

“I…”

He thinks of his long journey here. Of his father, who, for his sake, forgot everything, even the wife he loved and the son he cherished more than life itself. Of his mother, frozen in time, trapped until he and Ouka managed to sneak in and set her free. Of Father, who has finally returned, the only one of the five. Of Ouka, who bears a burden heavier than any other young girl her age. Of Hakuren, who is doing the best he can with what he can. Of Castor, Labrador, and Lance, who have given him so much in return for nothing. Of Mikage, his first and oldest friend.

Of the man who was the start of it all.

“I want Ayanami - no, Verloren - to be human once more. Him, and his loved one. I want them to understand the ephemeral beauty and fleeting wonder that is truly living.”

“Well said, young one. And now, for the third wish of your life.”

“Wait! What were my first two?”

The man smiles.

“You know as well as I do what your second was. As for your first, well, how else would you have escaped from the academy, back then?”

The man waves his hand. A random, almost aimless gesture, but with it he feels his body dissolving into a thousand petals, floating gently upwards as if carried by a gentle breeze.

The last thing he sees is a bright, blinding light. And he knows, somewhere in the depth of his soul, that he’ll see all of them again.

All he has to do is wait.


	2. born of love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teito meets his mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was a hard chapter to write...  
> sorry for the delay, all; the next chapter should be out in about the same time frame if i'm not too busy packing

It’s said that infants three years old and younger don’t have any memories. Scientists believe this is because they haven’t developed the function of memory and wander through their first three years of life like goldfish.

When Wahrheit Teito Klein was born, he was born with his eyes open. They were a beautiful green the color of the deep forests characteristic of Raggs. Sweaty, tired, and ready to fall asleep, Millea thought he was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

His own memories go thus:

He’s in some empty, quiet space. The sky above him is a clear, bright blue, and someone is speaking to him. He doesn’t hear anything, and then he feels a great warmth enveloping him.

Then he starts hearing things. A low, dull roar, accompanied by a steady thumping noise. Then suddenly bright light, and then he’s opening his eyes to a bright light coming from above. It’s different from before; this light is harsh and white, and he’s soon picked up by someone’s large hands which wipe the mucus away. He doesn’t like these hands, too clinical and hard. He scrunches up his nose, preparing to let loose a wail.

These hands pass him off to another pair, which feel warm and soft.

He sighs contentedly, smiles, and gets his first look of a fair-haired woman who is smiling down at him. He likes how she looks, and gurgles happily. She grins at that and gently rocks him back and forth, back and forth.

Soon, he is asleep.


	3. laughter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teito meets the Father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gosh, two chapters in a day! it's like i've been struck by some amazing creative impulse...  
> or i'm avoiding packing

He’s three, and like all three year olds, he feels the need to explore this newfound movement of his. So he shakily pushes himself onto his lower two limbs, while Mother watches, and carefully, cautiously pushes his foot forward.

He wobbles dangerously; this walking business is much harder than it seems. Mother half-rises out of her chair to grab him, but he steadies himself.

Next, for the other foot.

He slides that one forward too. More wobbling ensues, and he almost has to put his hands down again. Almost.

Then the next step. And the next. Before long, he’s walking at a steady pace, albeit shakily, towards the end of the hallway.

Then a man walks around the corner. He’s tall, much taller than Mother. He’s also wearing all white and a strange, square cap. He’s humming some familiar tune.

He’s also not watching where he’s walking, so he bowls over a small three year old easily.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Are you ok?”

The hands that pat him down, checking for injuries, are gloved. He tugs curiously at them.

“These are gloves. Here, try it on.” He pulls one off and hands it to Teito, who, being the uncoordinated three year old he is, tries to tug it on.

He succeeds in losing his entire hand in the glove. It’s such a funny thing that he starts to giggle.

The man stiffens.

“Are you Teito? Teito Klein?”

He nods, unsure of what to do.

The man sweeps him up in a hug.

“Ah, my dear Teito, it’s been so long! I’ve missed you, you know?”

At first, he panics. Who is this man?

But the longer he remains in his embrace, the more familiar it feels.

The white cap and outfit, the gloves, the tune he was humming, this tight but not crushing hug.

“Father?”

Millea comes by a few minutes later to find Fea Kreuz Raggs and Wahrheit Teito Klein playing happily with a pair of gloves. Teito’s wearing one on his head, and Fea Kreuz is gently tapping him on the nose with the other.

“There you were, Teito, Kreuz-sama. Enjoying yourselves, I see?”

Both of them turn identical grins on her.


	4. in loving, there is something sacred

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teito meets his precious friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from "Kokoro" by Natsume Soseki  
> (finally an update! sorry all, it's been a rough semester at school and I've just mustered up the creative juices to finish this chapter, more to come soon!)

It’s a warm, sunny day in late June, and so, the three of them (Father Kreuz, Millea, and Teito) are out enjoying the lazy afternoon in the garden, where it’s nice and warm. There’s an elegant tea setup – pot of tea, dainty china, polished silverware, petit fours arranged delicately on a silver plate, and Teito is sitting on both his hands to prevent them from going for the petit fours. They are “awesomely awesome”, as he soberly declares the first time he pops one into his mouth. He grins, and his teeth are caked with chocolate. Both adults chuckle at the adorable sight.

His mother and Father Kreuz are both very used to his antics at this point, and he gets off with a gentle warning to properly brush his teeth tonight, because we can’t have our little prince getting cavities now, can we?

The three of them sit at the table. Teito’s legs aren’t quite long enough to reach the ground just yet, so he happily swings them back and forth, back and forth, in a soothing rhythm.

Suddenly, out of the clear blue sky, a pink blur appears. It’s small at first, but grows larger. The two adults, engrossed in their discussion of recent court politics, don’t notice.

Teito watches curiously as the pink blur speeds closer and closer, then a Fyulong pup crashes into him and bowls him over.

His shriek of surprise draws the adults’ attention, but they notice what the furry missile was, and relax.

Teito, with all the solemnity a four-year-old can muster, dusts himself off and picks up the pink, furry blob. It uncurls and blinks.

As he peers into those earnest pink eyes, something stirs in the back of his mind. It’s a faint tickle, something from another lifetime. Some vague memory of another time of those same clear eyes, staring right back into his. They’re amber though, in his memory, and the human to whom they belong is taller than he is, with a scar on his right cheek and a big smile on his face.

He’s so familiar, and Teito _knows_ , somewhere deep inside, that this is him.

 “What will you name him, Teito?”

Teito smiles.

“Mikage. That’ll be his name, because he is my light.”

He holds out a hand to Mikage, who, after a moment’s consideration, places a paw in his. They run off laughing, past the roses which are slowly dying.

And for a moment, two teenagers, dressed in military uniforms, appear in the swirl of petals that they leave behind.

But just for a moment. The petals fall, and the illusion passes.

A young prince plays with his Fyulong friend amidst the warm tranquility of a summer afternoon.

_We’ll always be the best of friends. I love you._


	5. yellow roses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teito meets another friend.

He is six, and must, according to his mother, “learn the workings of the country. But to do so, you need to learn combat, and diplomacy, and proper etiquette.” And when he pulled a face, because all he wants to do at this age is to run around in the bright sunshine, reveling in its warmth, enjoying the carefree days he has before him, she laughs gently and pulls him close.

“One day, my dear Teito. One day, you’ll understand.”

She pats his head. She is so gentle, his mother, full of light and life and warmth.

Then he goes out to play, because what else will he do today? He and Mikage have a play date arranged again, like they do every day it’s sunny enough to go outside.

Except when he reaches the corridor, he runs into someone. A tall someone, who’s wearing the same white robes the Father wears, but this someone isn’t as tall as the Father. He says as much.

“Hey, squirt, who are you to insult me so?”

It’s a voice he hasn’t heard before, and Mother has recently been telling him off for talking to strangers, so he backs away cautiously and looks up.

The stranger looks down in the same moment, and some strange emotion crosses his face.

“Oh, it’s you.”

And suddenly, his expression crumbles and for a moment, he looks like he’s going to cry. Teito panics.

“Please, please don’t cry, pretty onii-chan! I’m Teito, nice to meet you!”

The stranger smiles. His eyes are so bright, so warm and full of love as he extends a hand out in front of him.

"Nice to meet you, Teito. I'm Hakuren Oak."

And Teito knows for sure that they will be the very best of friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo you guys, two more chapters! Thank you all for the awesome comments and support so far, and look forward to these last two!


	6. our tools change us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The (perhaps unexpected) last piece of the puzzle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is a quote from Jeff Bezos.

At seven years old, Teito is a precocious and somewhat mischievous child. His mother and the Father had expected the mischief, since his past incarnation had been much the same, but sometimes he would look at them with old, old eyes, and they would be (uncomfortably so) reminded that this was merely another container for the same soul who had experienced so much suffering.

At seven years old, Teito is climbing trees in the palace garden to find the source of the chirping that he’s been hearing from his bedroom every morning. He’s playing hide and seek in the gardens with the Father, learning (though reluctantly) etiquette, deportment, and maths from Hakuren, reading books with his mother in the vast library, and lying on the grass in perfect contentment with Mikage.

At seven years, four months, and some days old, Teito becomes aware of a certain emptiness within him. It’s like a phantom limb, but all his limbs are there, and the rest of him as well. He spends a whole week quietly pondering, silently frowning to himself, until both the Father and his mother become concerned.

“What’s wrong, Teito?” his mother asks, one evening at dinner.

“I don’t know. Something’s missing. Something here.”

And he points to his head with his left hand.

Both frown. They cannot think of what this new development could be, and it is agreed that Millea will have the doctor in as soon as possible to check on Teito’s condition.

The doctor arrives the very next day, pronounces him healthy in body, and proceeds to ask him a few questions more.

“Are you happy?”

Teito thinks about it for a long time.

“What does it mean to be happy, Doctor?”

The kindly old man blinks. He’s a doctor, not a philosopher.

“Okay, Teito, let me rephrase that. What would you change in your life, if you could?”

He thinks about it.

“I’ve found most of my friends, but I’m still missing one. There’s an emptiness, up here.”

And again, he points to his head with his left hand.

“Interesting. What do you mean by emptiness?”

“Usually there’s a… a feeling, I guess. It’s like someone used to send me a feeling of there-ness, and now they’re not anymore. They haven’t been for a while.”

The doctor’s brow furrows. “How long is a while?”

“I… I don’t know. I don’t know!”

And they all watch as silent tears stream down. Millea, upon hearing the chaos, bursts into the room and gathers Teito up in her arms.

“Oh Teito, my darling child, please, calm down. You’re upset, and we’ll fix this, okay?”

He nods, his body still racked with small sobs.

“Well, ma’am, it looks like your son is physically fit and well, and except for this missing presence he speaks of, he’s like your typical seven-year-old boy.”

“Thank you, Doctor. Your service is much appreciated.”

The doctor nods and leaves the room, gently closing the door behind him. The Father sits down by Teito.

“When you say someone used to be there, what did this someone feel like?”

When Teito looks up at him in confusion, he clarifies. “In your mind, I mean.”

Teito shrugs. “Like me, but not me. It was weird, he was like another me who made me feel less alone. He was kind of… warm and fuzzy, I guess?”

Something niggles in the back of the Father’s mind.

“Alright, Teito, do you want to run along and find Mikage now? I need to speak with your mother. It’s nothing terrible, I promise.”

“Okay!”

His small feet patter from the room.

“Millea, do you remember your other son’s left hand?”

She looks at him curiously. “What do you mean?”

“He had a red stone embedded in it. That red stone was called the Eye of Mikhail.”

Understanding blossoms across her face. Understanding, and horror.

“And you think that is what my son is missing now. The stone who used him as a tool?”

The Father nods. “There is no other explanation.”

“I need to think about this. In the meantime, is there a way we can prove that the stone’s what he’s missing?”

“Not besides finding the stone, no. And after that last battle, the stone disappeared.”

The pattering of small feet in the corridor rouses them out of the heavy silence.

“Mother! Father Kreuz! Look at what I found!”

And in his upraised left hand is clutched a round, red marble.

“He’s back! Mikhail!”

“No, Teito, don’t touch that. Put that down!”

Teito’s eyes grow round and wide. Never in his short life has his mother ever raised her voice in this way. She’s like a different person when she does, soft and gentle but somewhere in there her hidden core of steel comes out.

He starts to sniffle.

“Oh, child, don’t cry. Your mother is worried for you. Now, give the stone here, and we’ll need to run some tests on it first, okay?”

Teito looks slightly less scared, and trots over to place the stone obediently in Fea Kreuz’s outstretched hand.

“Promise you’ll give him back?”

He hesitates for a second. “If he’s not dangerous, then yes, you’ll have your friend back.”

Teito nods.

The tests take two weeks to run, in full. When they complete, Millea orders them to be run again.

The results are identical. This is the original Eye of Mikhail, thought to be lost in that last great fight. It also poses no foreseeable harm to Teito.

Millea very reluctantly allows Teito to put it in a pouch around his neck. As soon as it settles there, something clicks.

And Teito finally, finally feels whole again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go, guys!
> 
> (who saw this coming? hahaha neither did i, until i sat down to write it.)


	7. eventually, everything connects

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end, but also a new beginning.

Wahrheit Teito Klein lives and dies a great man. He, at the young age of fourteen, passes the Barsburg Church’s trials to become an apprentice bishop. At twenty-two, he becomes the youngest Pope of the church in its thousand-year history. At thirty-eight (the same age as his father when he died), he retires from his role in the church and re-establishes the Kingdom of Raggs, with support from his fellow monarch, Queen Ouka.

He dies at age ninety-two, surrounded by his children and grandchildren, who he knows will grieve, but not unduly, for his passing.

On his deathbed, he sees a familiar face bending over him.

“Oh, look at you. You’ve gotten all old and wrinkly since I last saw you.”

“Finally. What took you so long?”

“Well, I’m here to pick you up now, wrinkly old Teito.”

“Oh shut up, Fran.”

He feels a peculiar lightness as his soul shucks the meat container he called a body, and he reaches out to grab Fran’s hand.

“Let’s go! The others have been waiting for a long, long time.”

And together once more, they head upwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to thank all of you out there who left me lovely comments, kudos, and bookmarks throughout this six month (and wow it's been six months I do apologize for that four month hiatus) work! Thank you all so much, and I hope you had as much fun reading this as I had writing it. :)


End file.
